More than 40% deeper?

G'day crowbar,

There are some areas in WA, Vic and possibly the other States where it can be possible to run the GPZ in Normal Ground mode. I know my young bloke was running his in Normal in some of the areas where we were in WA this year with some success. I did try a couple of times, but found I was digging a lot more hot rocks in that mode. As has been said by JP and others it does depend on the ground type.

Cheers.

Mike.

Two easy steps to determine if ground is suitable for Normal soil mode.

1) Turn on the Zed in Normal mode.

2) Walk around detecting for 5 minutes.

3) Sit down on log.

4) Close eyes for 1 minute.

5) Open eyes and choose one of the following:

a) Look down next to you. Is the detector sitting there patiently waiting for you to get up and start hunting again? Conclusion: soil suitable for Normal soil mode.

b) Look up above you. Is the detector wrapped around nearest tree with it's electronic guts spilling out on the ground? Conclusion: soil not suitable for Normal soil mode.

See? It's easy.

Hahahaha! Like it!

Unfortunately some loss of depth does occur by having to use the Difficult mode when the ground dictates its use.
It would also appear then that the Severe mode may do the same.
Therefore has anyone found ground that required the use of the Severe mode?
If so would Severe mode cause a further loss of depth when compared to the Difficult mode?

What mode you use should be determined by the type of ground you are walking over. Hence the modes called "Ground Type" in the GPZ. If the ground is causing a Saturation signal then Severe "Ground Type" will provide the best ratio of Gold Target signal to Ground Saturation signal possible. If the Ground Type is NOT Severe but still Mineralised then Difficult Ground Type will provide the best ratio to gold Target signal to Ground Signal possible and so on. Only you the operator can make that determination based on the Ground Type you are working in.

Most people have forgotten the good old days where we only had Normal Timings to choose from, we have become spoiled for choice thanks to the advent of Smooth timings. Operators now expect Minelab to provide zero ground noise and hot rocks and only gold signals but at the same time provide full depth equal to the Normal gold modes. Unfortunately the real world does not work like that, as an example the SDC 2300 runs incredibly quiet, far far quieter than the GPZ 7000, to the point were due to the extra ground signal of the 7000 it almost appears the SDC is outperforming the GPZ. In reality the GPZ smokes the SDC in every way except for tiny surface gold in extreme environments such as salty ground. The difference is the SDC 2300 is running timings that are similar to the Severe mode of the GPZ so are limited except in specific conditions suited to its merits, operators of the SDC have very quickly learned to take full advantage of this and specifically targeted areas conducive to its strong points.

If you're wanting to leverage the maximum depth possible out of the GPZ 7000 then you need to be prepared to go outside your comfort zone, only you can decided when the Ground Signal of the Normal Ground Type modes is detrimental to the detectors outright depth or to the detriment of your sanity or both. Learning to know which is which is the difference between having a better understanding of your comfort zone and the detectors limitations.

JP

Thanks for the data Jonathan, I don't have a Z but do have a 2300 and it is very useful to have a deeper understanding of the thing.
cheers, Sparrowfart.